Conflict Commissioner Paul Fraser has bowed out of an investigation of Premier Christy Clark, acknowledging it could appear he has a bias because his son holds a senior position in Clark’s government.

“(G)iven the very unique circumstances here — circumstances in which there is a familial connection ... I now recuse myself from any further substantive involvement in this matter,” Fraser stated in a Tuesday news release.

The investigation would look into whether Clark violated the Member’s Conflict of Interest Act in 2003 by participating in cabinet meetings where the sale of BC Rail was discussed.

Fraser’s son, John Paul Fraser, is a longtime friend of Clark and is her assistant deputy minister for strategic planning and public engagement. The younger Fraser also once worked with Mark Marissen, the premier’s former husband, at Burrard Communications Inc.

When first asked about the issue Thursday, the conflict-of-interest commissioner had initially said he believed he could judge the matter impartially. “I stand by that,” Fraser said Tuesday. “However, I have given further and considerable thought to the perception issue.”

Fraser has handed off the conflict-of-interest complaint to Gerald Gerrand, conflict commissioner in Northwest Territories.

Maxwell Cameron, director of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions at the University of B.C., said Fraser should have seen the potential for bias from the outset.

“I thought his initial response, which addressed his ability to act impartially, was unsatisfactory. Now he has said he will recuse himself due to the potential perception of partiality. It goes without saying that even the perception of a conflict of interest is a problem for someone who has to rule on a matter of conflict of interest,” he said.

Cameron also questioned whether having a son with a post in the provincial government creates an abiding problem for someone in the conflict commissioner’s chair.

“Common sense and public opinion are likely to dictate that having a family member who is politically connected to the premier is a problem in a case like this.”

John van Dongen, the former B.C. Liberal MLA who now sits as an Independent, asked Fraser on Oct. 18 to determine if Clark broke the conflict-of-interest law in 2003 during her government’s privatization of BC Rail.

Clark, then education minister and deputy premier, declared a conflict at one point during that process, disclosing that her husband had done some consulting work for CIBC World Markets, the company that shepherded the bidding process. She added at the time, however, that the work Marissen did was not directly related to the BC Rail transaction.

Clark recused herself from one cabinet meeting and a vote in the legislature that enabled the sale of BC Rail to CN Rail, but van Dongen questions whether she followed the rules during the entire process.

On Friday, Vancouver Sun legislative reporter Jonathan Fowlie reported Fraser himself may be facing a conflict of interest because of his son’s government post.

Van Dongen said he welcomed Fraser’s decision to step back.

“I expressed my concerns (on Friday), he has reflected on them and he has made the right decision,” van Dongen said Tuesday. “I do believe he should have recognized it sooner, though. He recognized when his son was brought into a senior position, a political appointment, that that could be problematic.”

Van Dongen added he is not alleging bias, but instead only a “reasonable apprehension of bias.”

NDP MLA Shane Simpson said he was never concerned about a conflict of interest, but was pleased with Fraser’s decision nonetheless.

“It was our belief that he would have weighed pretty carefully how he could produce a decision that would be credible in the eyes of the public. If he believes that it was going to be a problem, then he’s done the right thing and we’re very supportive of it.”

The determination of whether or not conflict rules were broken is what’s important, Simpson said.

“Hopefully now we get the answer to that question and it’s not muddled in any way about some question about the legitimacy of the review itself.”

In a 23-page letter last month, van Dongen laid out his concerns to the conflict-of-interest commissioner along with a 49-tab binder filled with publicly available information the MLA says supports the need for a comprehensive investigation.

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